THE SUNKEN CITY

Location: San Pedro, CA​Accessibility: Easily accessible through holes in the fence​Created: 1929

San Pedro, California is a community along the coast known for The Los Angeles Harbor Area, the USS Iowa, and the Sunken City. What is the Sunken City? It's a classic example of Man Vs. Nature, where in this case, nature won, yet man continues to enjoy the remains of what was once built.

In the 1920’s, housing developer, George Peck decided to bank on the appeal of a home with an ocean view. Homes and elaborate bungalows were built on the land around Pt. Fermin but did not stand for long. On January 2nd, 1929, a waterline broke underneath the Ocean View Inn on Paseo Del Mar and days later, a gas line broke in the same place. These were clear indicators that the land where the homes stood was starting to shift.

Evacuations took place, and the inevitable happened. A landslide caused the ocean to swallow up two of the bungalows and severely damage surrounding roads, homes, plumbing, exposed pipes and railroad tracks. Geological experts would later discover that the land where the homes stood was essentially mud, and the land had been sliding an estimated eleven inches a day.

The Sunken City is now known as the Atlantis City of San Pedro. It is technically not opened to the public, yet handfuls of people who find a way in have left their mark with graffiti art and spend the day walking through the remains of the housing graveyard while enjoying a beautiful view of the coast.

To see this unusual place for yourself, please watch our episode above!